In the chemical engineering art in addition to the gas scrubbing process described in my aforementioned application there are many instances where mass transfer reactions, energy transfer reactions, and chemical reactions or combinations of these are carried out by bringing a gas or vapor and a liquid into intimate contact with each other, usually within a vessel. In continuous processes, liquid and gas feed stock streams are continuously introduced to the gas-liquid contact vessel, and gas and liquid product streams are continuously withdrawn. The flow paths of the two streams through the vessel are in most instances of the countercurrent type, with the liquid being introduced at or near the top of the vessel, and withdrawn at the bottom, and with the gas being introduced at or near the bottom of the vessel and withdrawn at the top. In some instances, concurrent flow, with both streams moving through the vessel in the same direction, is employed.
It is the practice to mount within the gas-liquid contact vessel passive apparatus or structure intended to insure that the liquid and gas achieve the desired degree of contact with each other so that the planned reaction occurs at the designed rate. The internal structure is passive in the sense that it is not power driven and has few or no moving parts. (Those parts that do move do so under the influence of the gas or liquid moving through the vessel.) Various kinds of structures have been employed, including bubble trays, packed columns, and grids. Ideally, the design of the vessels must include process, operational and constructional considerations. The contact reaction must be effective and efficient from a quality (purity) and quantity (yield) point of view. Further, it must use energy supplied efficiently as well as accomplish the reaction with a minimum pressure drop. Also, the apparatus should be simple and economical to build and easily cleaned and maintained. Further, vessel size is important. Desirably, the vessel should be as small and short as possible.
The foregoing considerations may be summarized as follows: it is desirable that gas-liquid contact apparatus produce good product quality and yield, at a good energy efficiency and low pressure drop; that it be practical and simple to connstruct and maintain; and that its size and the tower size be minimized while throughput capacity is maximized.
It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide a gas-liquid contact apparatus which substantially satisfies these considerations providing high efficiencies at lower, installed and operating costs.